It Happened 'That Night'
by uuuhhhhhh.yeah
Summary: "Holy shit. What?" Realization bitchslaps hard. She could almost feel a bruise forming on her cheek. Emily was in someone else's bed with nothing on... with SOMEONE ELSE WHO ALSO HAS NOTHING ON.
1. Chapter 1

**First fic ever (first fic posted at least..). Do spare some mercy, though constructive criticism is always welcome.**

 **Post 'A'. First year of college. Emily Fields x Santana Lopez.**

* * *

"Damn it," she mutters to herself, this is her fifth time she's tried to call Aria. She really wants to leave. Not that she didn't like parties; it just wasn't her kind of party. She didn't know anyone; the music was terrible and way too loud; the house was too warm and too cramped. The girl tries to force her way through warm sweaty bodies vaguely moving to the beat to reach the door. She briefly wonders if she was the only one who's feeling the heat and the claustrophobia, because not a single other person seemed to mind.

"Emily!" a small voice from the befitting petite frame of her fellow swimmer, Lisa, managed to catch her attention despite the obnoxious music.

 _Ignore it. Ignore it._

Just before she reaches the front door, Lisa managed to make her catch and reel Emily back into the party. "You look… You... should have… a shot!" she slurs, tipping a shot glass between the brunettes lips before she could protest. Emily unwillingly swallowed, the unanticipated burn in her throat making her cough and gag a little. "Come on! Let's have fun!" linking her arm with Emily's, making sure her catch wouldn't make her escape. Any argument made by the taller girl of why she should leave was effectively drowned out by a flood of incoherent rebuttals. She couldn't exactly leave either way as she hitched a ride from Aria and her ride still won't answer her calls.

Lisa led her to join the rest of the swim team, all of whom greeted her cheerily. Somehow, it calmed her tenfold. Emily sort of loved the team, as they loved her. All being college-level swimmers, there was always something she shared with each girl; it could be how competitive they were, their preference of styles, or even just their love for the water. At the same time, Emily being the sweet and modest, yet the hardest working and most talented freshman, the seniors doted on her and her peers looked up to her. In addition, Emily loved the fact that the team was built on respect and dignity. There was no petty competition to prove who's better than who, though there may be a few exceptions here and there. Even so, they would learn eventually.

"Let's get this girl a drink!"

 _Ok fine. I mean… What can go wrong, right?_

Within the next hour, the brunette has taken at least 10 shots, after which she danced with at least 5 different people, and kissed a random guy… or girl. The feeling was almost that of riding a roller coaster. Her heart was racing. She felt every pound from the speakers throughout her body, as if she was made of the beats. The room became blissful dazzle of colour and lights, a blur of laughter and music. What was around her was what she was. The swimmer finally felt like she was enjoying herself.

Till someone called.

Suddenly the whole room was silent, except for the sound of her ringtone. Instinctively, she reached for her phone in her back pocket. She met with skin, her own skin.

 _What…?_

Emily's eyes were closed. She forces her heavy lids as open as she could. Sunlight pierced though the blinds and flooded the room. The walls were yellow, as were the drapes. She's now sure of one thing, the room was definitely not the living room from yesterday's party, neither was it dorm room. Not reassuring at all. She tries to make sense of her situation, racking her brain for some useful information. Instead of anything helpful, her brain pounded back at her, causing her to cringe where she was lying.

 _I'm on a bed?_

Her phone rang again. She reached for the direction of the sound. Her phone was on the floor, thankfully within reach. It was Aria. She oriented her phone to answer-

"Can you please shut that off?" grumbled the groggy voice next to her.

 _Holy shit. What?!_

Realization bitchslapped hard. She could almost feel the sting on her cheek. Emily was in someone else's bed with nothing on. The girl snaps up, turning to the direction of where the voice came from… She was in someone else's bed with nothing on with SOMEONE ELSE WHO ALSO HAS NOTHING ON.

 _Shit. Uhhh… Shit._

Holding the sheets to her chest, she stands up and stumbles around looking for her clothes. At least, whoever was next to her was facing away and covered her head with a pillow to block out Emily's phone. As soon as she realizes that she didn't have it in her to differentiate her clothes from those strewn all over the floor, she puts on the closest skirt to her, the hoodie hanging on the door, and what she hopes are her flats, and begins her escape: out the door, past a few other bedroom doors, she assumes, down the staircase, past the kitchen…

 _People. Oh shit._

"S, want some breakfast?" one of whoever they are asks.

She manages to spit out a "no thank you," before she finally makes it to the front door and makes a run for it.

* * *

 **P.S. Interesting note: Santana and Emily are in fact the same age - both born 1994**


	2. Chapter 2

"Oh my God! Guys!... Woah Em, you look terrible," Hanna comments as she joins the table of three, fresh latte in hand.

"Was this planned?" the hungover swimmer mumbles, face still buried in her own hands as her elbows rested on her knees.

"Spencer and I told her the exact same thing," Aria explains before the blonde asks.

"Were you run over by a car? I swear, I didn't look that bad when-"

"Han, can you not?" Emily grumbled.

"I'm just kidding Em. Just trying to lighten the mood," she sits right next to Emily, slightly rubbing her shoulder against hers ass a way of telling her that she was there for her.

"What brings you here?" Spencer asks in between sips of her coffee.

"I have to pick up my roommate who came here for some collab.. research.. thingy…" She had to unscrunch her forehead. "What brings Ms. UPenn here?"

"Toby."

She nods to say, "right". The four catch up quickly before Hanna has to leave. It was a tiny escape from college, the half an hour the four spent together in the small outlying coffee shop just outside Aria and Emily's campus. There was an unsaid but joint "I really miss you guys" in the atmosphere. It was nice.

"I gotta go. This was nice. Let's meet up again soon, alright?" Hanna gets up and takes a step back from the table. She knocks over a paper bag that was propped next to Emily's chair. "Oops," she picks up the spilled contents seeing that Emily hasn't even reacted to her knocking over her things. She briskly folds the hoodie before picking up the skirt.

"Wow Em…" the blonde's raises an eyebrow playfully. "Are you joining the cheerleading team?"

"No… uh..." she manages.

"Kinky much? Wow Em, you just keep getting sexier in the sheets." the blonde teases as she folds it before giving each of the three a quick hug and taking her leave.

Emily could feel them coming. If they were visible, they would look like arrow after arrow accelerating towards her. She didn't even have to look up to know that the two had their detective faces on.

 _Three. Two._

The door closes after Hanna.

 _One._

"Borrowed…?" "From who? OMG Em! Did you-?" "She must have! It must be someone from the party we were at last night" "She didn't go back to her dorm room?" "I don't think so… She told me she wanted to stay a little bit longer before I left."

She left them to amuse themselves with questions that she doesn't plan on answering. The two were already forming theories and making guesses without her.

Emily sits up to take a sip of her coffee, appreciating the warmth it gives her from inside. It calmed the throbbing in her brain… by a little. Unconsciously, she reached for her phone and swiped across the screen. Nothing; no new messages or calls. She was sort of hoping for something to keep her busy for at least a few minutes. Leaning back on her chair, the hungover girl takes interest in her surroundings instead. The small cafe sort of reminded her of the Rear Window Brew back in Rosewood. It had the same homey store décor, warm lighting, comfy chairs in the corners, and the same coffee doused air. It just traded some décor and bookshelves to make space for more tables and chairs for more college students to use. She makes a decision just go back to her dorm and hit the sack after she finishes her coffee. Afternoon classes be damned.

Spencer squeezed her shoulder, snapping her from her inner monologue, "Come on Em! Tell us who it is…"

"… I don't… even know."

"How can you not know?"

"I just woke up in someone else's room and I wasn't- Uh… I wasn't-"

 _Shit. Ugh… Just spit it out Emily_

"You know, wearing… anything." Emily glanced up from fiddling with her now empty coffee mug to peek at their reactions. Spencer had both eyebrows raised while Aria just wore an unsettling smirk. They waited for her to continue, anticipating a very very interesting story.

The swimmer sighs, reluctantly doing just that "… then I realized that there was someone else in the bed… who was also… not wearing anything-" Spencer's eyebrows shot up higher and Aria's smirk only grew. "- so I tried to look for my clothes but I panicked so I picked up the closest thing and so-" she gestured to the paper bag next to her.

"And then?" Spencer has already scooted the edge of her seat. The two looked like someone broke the projector of the cinema they were in just before the climax of a movie.

"What did she look like?" Aria tried to prompt Emily.

"I didn't really look at her… I sort of remember brown hair.. but that's all really…"

"Are you planning on looking for her?" She shook her head, garnering disappointed looks from the other two.

"What about the skirt?"

"I guess I'll just leave it around the cheerleaders' lockers later."

Aria sighs then shrugs, snickering a bit before saying, "Emily is a total stud anyways. You should see how many guys and girls try to make a move on her. It's like watching people try to climb over a really tall smooth wall with their bare hands."

"Any successfuls?"

"Well… I guess now there is."

"I know what we should call her… Red skirt!"

"Shut up guys!"

Emily rolls her eyes. They're laughing at her blushing. She hates them, but she loves them more.

* * *

Lisa: Didn't see you in class. Are you okay?

Emily: Yeah. I stayed in. Just wanted to sleep off the headache…

Lisa: HAHA. What a lightweight

Emily: …

Lisa: Anyways! Coach says they're clearing out the lockers later

Lisa: The janitors found a rat in some girl's locker so they're gonna clean them out

Lisa: You should go get your stuff soon before the janitors turn your shirts into rags

Emily: Thanks for the heads up Lisa J

Lisa: You know how I am with the things I care about

Lisa: I mean, you have like… the nicest clothes

Emily: HA. HA. Funny

She groans as she sluggishly rolls off the bed, artlessly throwing her sheets on the floor. The swimmer figures there's only so much she can do to look any better than she feels, so she picks up a hair band to tame her hair into a pony tail, puts on a Ray-Ban wayfarer, empties out her duffel and leaves in the track suit and slippers she has been idling in the whole day. She checks her watch.

 _Damn. It's 6.18 already._

Emily picks up her pace hoping to avoid the 6.30 p.m. flood in of girl jocks with post-training crankiness, ranting about their coach or their training programme. Those girls should really learn the phrase, 'suck it up'. Thankfully, her dorm wasn't far from the centre and she was in there five minutes. As she enters the locker room, she realizes that she forgot something.

 _Shit. The skirt!_

She makes a quick trip back to get the paper bag containing the 'borrowed' clothes and jogs back.

 _Great. No one here yet._

She leaves the paper bag on the bench of the 2nd aisle of lockers. It's where she sees the cheerleaders most of the time before practice. Noise suddenly started filling the room; the wave of chatter bounced off the walls and the lockers. Emily makes a beeline for her locker, just making it before anyone caught her. She couldn't help but eavesdrop, just to see who would find the bag.

"Seriously, our male cheerleaders are either twelve or girls dressed in the wrong uniform. They can't even carry me for 10 seconds. Can you move your bag?"

"It's not mine, S."

"Well, you can still move it, can't you?"

"Ugh… You know, I'm just collecting all the times I've done something for you, and then I'll collect it as one big prize. Maybe you can introduce me to one of your hot cousins-"

"Dios mio… That's your big prize?"

"Who's skirt is this?"

"What?"

"The bag… there's a uniform in here. Oh wait… It's just the skirt and our hoodie."

The conversation stopped for a while. Emily guesses that they were showing it to the other cheerleaders, asking if it was theirs. She heard a girl ask, "Yours?" and a few faint, "Not mine"s.

"Hey San, didn't you lose a skirt?" another girl asks.

 _Wait._

"… yeah. I did." She hears the paper bag being opened. "It could be mine."

 _San?_

"Actually, I think it's yours. It smells like it just came out of the closet."

The few cheerleaders burst into laughter, but Emily couldn't even respond.

 _Santana Lopez?_

"I am going shower now. Before the razors fall out from my hair and cut one of you bitches."

"Bye San~" they continued to tease.

 _Santana Lopez the head cheerleader?_

"Fuck."

* * *

 **And that's the end of the Chapter 2. I'm kinda hoping the pace of the story will pick up soon. I'm still not sure how this will go and I still don't really know what I'm doing. So... Uhh... Thanks for reading! :)**


	3. Chapter 3

"See you tomorrow Aria!"

"See ya."

She sighs, looking up the stairs she has to conquer before she can finally reach her room. The brunette wonders why she ever listened to the imaginative part of her brain that told her to choose a good view and the authentic feel over the second floor rooms or a dorm with an elevator. Still, she reaches her dorm room, searching for her keys to open the-

"Aria!"

"Oh my god Em-", the shorter of the girls found herself already inside her room without her having to take a single step.

"You're finally here. There's a problem."

* * *

"Wow Em. THE head cheerleader."

The swimmer could only nod. Her throat has dried from all the explaining in panic mode; what details she remembered of the morning after to the whole locker incident.

"What are you gonna do?"

She lets herself fall onto the softness that is Aria's bed, "I don't know."

"Wait. Em…" A few pieces fall into place in Aria's head; popular brunette, unnerving air of confidence, and suggested athleticism: Santana Lopez, the head cheerleader. It fit all too well. She was the girl Emily has been crushing over. Though the girl has never explicitly said so, Aria knew her friend well enough to know when someone's got her attention. In addition, her detective hat has developed into a near-Sherlock standard over the years; she picked up clues and hints about Emily's crush that guided her towards someone either the cheerleading squad or the softball team, but never enough to get a name.

 _Why else would the girl be so worked up about it?_

"Mmm?" Emily propped herself up on an elbow, eager for suggestions.

"It's her isn't it?" Aria sat next to her friend for a front row view of her reaction. "She's the girl you have a crush on."

The swimmer throws herself back onto the bed.

 _Bullseye._

Aria gave herself a pat on the back. It was like the end of a Nancy Drew episode. "Oh my god. So that's why you always hang out on the bleachers. I knew you were lying when you said you wanted to get more sun. The sun out there is not for tanning, it's for cooking."

She groaned and curled herself up on her friend's bed, silently thanking whoever was listening that Aria's roommate was out for the month.

"Are you gonna talk to her?"

"No."

"Why not? She into you. You're into her."

"How do you even know she's into me?"

"Well, she did… you know… YOU." The writer-to-be earns herself a flying pillow for giggling, though she really tried not to.

"It's not funny," Emily grumbles. Aria takes a while to cover up the smile on her face. This was hilariously adorable; the swim-bod stud is crushing like a fifth grader, shadily hanging around the bleachers watching the cheerleading team practice.

"Alright, alright. Well, your unconscious selves chose each other, didn't they? That has to count for something. Plus, the two of you would look so good together. You're a brunette. She's a brunette. You're tan. She's tan. You're a jock. She's a jock. You'll look like… cousins," Aria couldn't help but make the joke.

"You're the worst." At least she made the girl laugh.

"Look… what I was trying to say is… you're a catch too." Despite still having some laughs in her, Emily could feel Aria's sincerity somewhere in there. She sits up and pats the bed next to her to give her friend a hug.

"Aww. I like it when you get all sappy… I don't know Aria. For now, I just want to sleep away the rest of my hangover."

"Stay here then. My roommate's away so…"

"Good. I was counting on you to say that."

* * *

 **Yes. I know... I'll say it with you. Filler.**


	4. Chapter 4

"Why didn't they ask the guys?"

"Firstly, our guys' team are shit. Sorry, not sorry. They barely train. Secondly, they said none of them were good looking enough to sacrifice their safety for," Lisa shrugged in agreement.

Emily still had an unexplainable unease about it, but she thought 'what's the worst that could go wrong?' "Guess we're going then."

* * *

Emily never liked lifeguard duty. It's strange to her being near a pool and not going in it. What's worse is that she has to watch other people have fun in it.

 _Suck it up. It's a fundraising event._

The summer pool party is yearly event that the football team and the cheerleading squad organize for a charity of their choice that year, but most people know that that was a cover up just to be able to throw a huge party using college facilities; for the jocks to walk around half-naked with reason; and to provide an "appropriate" setting for younger, better-looking professors to mingle with students.

SLAP!

The sound was followed by a stinging feeling on her butt cheek. Emily turned around, hand at the ready-

"Woah woah. It's just me."

"Seriously Lisa?" Her friend in the matching lifeguard shirt only chuckled. "I thought you were one of those guys again. I could have slapped you," she said seriously… well, she tried.

"Aww, look at you, being tough," the shorter girl teased. "You have a nice butt. I can't help it. Plus, I don't see anyone claiming it," she pushed further, earning herself a light shove.

"Doesn't mean you can slap it whenever you want," she scoffed.

The party went on, and soon enough it ended. As usual, she didn't do much, and sadly the outdoor pool had become an extract of the dead sea; red solo cups, food wrappers, slippers, and many unidentifiable things floated (and some sank) in the water; a horrific sight for the swimmers who were on lifeguard duty. Thankfully, a few cheerleaders stayed back to clean up.

"Emily, right?"

"Mmhmm," she stayed focus on catching a slipper floating in the pool with her net. That was until, a hand stopped it. Looking up to see who it was was a mistake, she could have had a heart attack then and there. Blonde, short hair, hazel eyes, pink lips… just- a stunning face, knocked the wind out of the swimmer. Emily should really find a way to stop getting stupefied by beautiful girls. She felt like any other adolescent boy out there, but before anything, she stopped herself from drooling.

"You guys really don't have to do this. The cheerleading squad will clean everything up, I promise. You'll have a brand new pool by tomorrow," she said sincerely.

 _She's nice too._

"It's okay. We… uhh… like cleaning the pool."

The blonde smiled, slowly taking the net from Emily, "Emily. I heard you're a great swimmer. I've always wanted to watch the girls' team compete, but practice times always clash with your competitions. And I don't mean this in a bad way, it's sweet actually, but you're not a very good liar."

 _Idiot._

She squeezed her arm to reassure her, making Emily that much more conscious, "We'll handle it. I mean, you guys did this for free so we really can't ask you for any more."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. Very sure. Your friends are already sold on it," the cheerleader looks to where the three other lifeguards were; all were waving at Emily to hurry up. "Thanks for coming Em. Can I call you Em?"

"Yeah. O-of course," she said, surprising herself from her ability to reply.

"I'm Quinn, by the way."

"I know," she said a little too quickly. "I mean, everyone- knows…"

The blonde giggles, "Now go, you've worked enough."

"Hmmhmm… Bye."

"Bye."

* * *

"She's actually really nice." "I know right."

Emily caught up to her team-mates. Comfortably resting an arm around Lisa's shoulders, she's always told her this, so she won't say it this time, but the girl was perfect arm rest height.

"Who is?"

"Quinn Fabray"


	5. Chapter 5

"Em, your love life never fails to interest me," Spencer sips the last of her 2nd cup of coffee.

The swimmer makes a mental note to find another place to meet up with Spencer than a coffee shop. She forgot about the agreement between Aria, Hanna and herself that they were going to help Spencer out of her caffeine addiction. Otherwise, the girl might just start to bleed coffee. However, Emily can't deny that UPenn has an amazing Starbucks outlet; three stories worth of comfy chairs and couches, homey décor, free Wi-Fi, and that delightful aroma of coffee; totally worth the drive. Students would camp out here if only they didn't close at midnight.

Emily lets out a sigh, "It never fails to stress me out."

"Wait… so how did you find out?"

Emily recounts how she discovered that the girl she woke up next to was the captain of the college cheer squad, Santana Lopez, as well as, the numerous times she's avoided her.

One time, Emily held her breath in the pool until the whole cheerleading squad passed by. Because they were chatty and walking slowly, Emily beat her own record of breath holding, even placing herself as second longest in the girls' team. Another time, she hid INSIDE a locker until she was sure all the cheerleaders have showered, changed and gone.

"Seriously Em," she grabbed her friend by the wrist to the nearest mirror. "Look. You are Spen- I mean, Emily Fields. Sorry, I usually just to this for myself… alone… when I'm stressed. Anyway, you're Emily Fields. Smart. Sexy. Beautiful…"

"Go on."

She gets a light slap on the shoulder, "Em, you get what I'm saying, right? You're a catch. No reason for you to be shy and hide away. What happened to the lady stud of Rosewood?"

Emily smiles at the gesture as she made her way back to her seat. Things like this really make her day. She writes it down in her mental 'blessings' list: "Spencer's confidence pep talk". "She left the puddle that was Rosewood and entered the sea that is college."

"Doesn't change the fact that you're a great quality fish." The two started laughing at where their conversation was heading; fish references and puns. Until-

A cheery voice interrupted them, "Hastings?"

"Fabray."

Emily turned around to find the same stunning blonde from last week. With no intention of speaking, she blurts out her thoughts, "You guys know each other?"

"Yeah. We go way back," Quinn replies, remaining enthusiastic as ever.

Emily didn't know how long she sat there with a big question mark on her face. Sitting next to her was a friend from her first memories in school: running around playing tag, fighting over art supplies, laughing over the smallest things. While standing on her other side, a girl who she's spoken to once, the real life Barbie, college edition of course.

 _And they 'go way back'?_

She shot Spencer her "why don't I know this?" look. Unfortunately, she wasn't looking. Her back was straight, her arms were folded and her eyebrows were furrowed. Though it would be subtle to an untrained eye, Emily knew Spencer had her guard up. All she needed to know was why.

"Yeah. Fabray is also a debater. She somehow frequents most of my rival teams." A fact that made Quinn laugh lightly.

 _Intellectual with an angelic laugh. Seriously? How does one not fall for that. So help me God…_

"What can I say, I love the competition." Emily gives the round to Quinn; she caught Spencer off guard with an indirect compliment, effectively shutting her down. "Oh, I was actually going to look for you later Em!"

 _"Really?"_

The tiny snicker from her friend gave away that she, yet again, blurted her thoughts out loud. The swimmer immediately attempts to wipe the 'over-optimistic' off her face and tone it down to 'adequately interested'. "Uh.. What for?"

Quinn takes the empty seat across Emily and next to Spencer. "Our cheerleading training camp is coming up. I was thinking of adding a swimming component to it, and I was hoping you could help out," she beams at the swimmer hopefully.

 _Like I can say no to that._

With barely half a nod in response, Quinn celebrates, "That's great! Let's exchange numbers and I'll contact you!"

She thanks whoever was listening that her fresh tan covered her blush for her.

* * *

Spencer: Sorry I had to leave so abruptly

Emily: You know I'm fine with it

Emily: I know you're a busy woman now

Spencer: You and Quinn though

Spencer: What about to Santana

Emily: I don't know Spence L

Spencer: You were so smitten by her though

Spencer: It was ADORABLE, yet hard to watch

Emily: Shut up!

Spencer: HAHAHA

Spencer: It's your turn to make a move though ;)

 _Should I?_

Unknown number: Hey. Emily, right? We're discussing camp details tomorrow morning. Can you come?

Emily: Yeah, sure

Emily: Sorry, can I get your name?

Unknown number: Oh. Right, sorry. This is Santana

Santana: Santana Lopez

 _Oh fuck._

* * *

 **Sorry, it's been a while and this is kind of a filler again. I'm still going without a plan here, sorry :/ I mostly posted this to get this thing flowing again. I'll probably edit this again soon and see what I can do from here. Sorry and thanks for the patience and support :)**


	6. Chapter 6

"Hey."

Her body jerks involuntarily.

 _Smooth Emily… Smooth…_

She hears a giggle held back, making her feel silly. Consciously avoiding eye contact, Emily closes her locker door and starts their journey to the car park, though very aware it won't be long until she would have to look up.

"Sorry. Didn't mean to scare you," she says in a hushed voice.

"It's fine," the swimmer finally looks up to see her smiling puckishly, holding in her laughter. Now she finds herself smiling. "I tend to be jumpy."

Quinn has been talking to Emily frequently, about the camp of course, but frequently nonetheless. Since the meeting for camp details were cancelled, Emily has just been receiving updates from the blonde cheerleader about the event. The cheerleader tended to randomly greet Emily after her swim practice or after a class and chatter until they reach Emily's dorm. Though Emily found it awkward and intimidating at first, she warmed up to Quinn really quickly. The blonde would ask her about for advice, suggestions, opinions, but, of course, they also chatted about everything and anything under the sun in between.

"…so you'll just have to be there on the afternoons," she concludes as she get into the drivers seat. "That's fine, right?"

"Yeah, sure."

"It's pizza night tonight, wanna join us?"

"You guys have pizza night?" Emily felt a slight tinge of jealousy, but mostly she felt sad; the thought of all the weird, not to mention gross, vegetable shakes her coach makes for her team after training. She could seriously cry then and there. "I have a lot of work to do tonight."

Quinn laughs again, it must have shown on the swimmer's face. "Shame. But yeah! Thursday nights are pizza nights and Sunday mornings are Cheerios mornings," Emily was on the line between laughing at a possibly intended pun and keeping a straight face, "and no. We didn't choose Cheerios because we're cheerleaders." The swimmer lets out a sigh of relief.

"I saw that judgement on your face," she accuses, brows furrowed. "I'm bad at jokes but even I wouldn't go that far."

"Your jokes are fine," Emily laughs as she feels for the seatbelt behind her. "But Cheerios? Really?"

Quinn just raises her eyebrow.

 _What a genius eyebrow raise._

Emily finds herself unconsciously attempting to imitate it. "I'm serious. Cheerios won't even make my top 10."

She plays along, trying her best to keep a straight face, "Oh so you have a top 10?"

"Yup. Since middle school."

"Fine. Then, actually, I'm more of a honey stars kind of girl."

"Not bad. You're number four on my list."

"So what's number one?"

"Lucky Charms," she proudly proclaims.

"Oh my god. You're just like San." Before Emily could react, "Here you are."

She hears the doors unlock, and Quinn reaches over her to open her door for her. She thanks her, mentally, because she somehow couldn't say it out loud. She tries again.

"Uh-"

"Your welcome."

Quinn smiles, making Emily smile.

"Now please get out of my car. My pizza is getting cold."

She just rolls her eyes.

* * *

She swipes right on her phone as soon as she steps out of the lecture theatre; scrolling past social media notifications, and spam emails to find nothing substantial to occupy her mind on her walk back to the dorm.

"Emily!" someone exclaimed, accompanied by a light shove.

The brunette was sure she just experienced a tiny stroke, but she makes it in time to catch the phone her hands just let go of.

 _Again Emily? Really?_

"Sorry. I actually meant to scare you this time," the culprit declares, laughing uninhibitedly.

"Quinn," she exhales, taking a deep breath before continuing in an attempt to calm her currently racing heart, "my hair just turned white."

"You'd still look pretty,-"

 _Don't think about it. Don't think about it._

"-like Rogue!"

 _Rogue?_

"You know? X-men." Quinn does her eyebrow raise again, as if knowledge of marvel comics is under the category: common sense. Soon enough, like most of her squad mates, she grasps the fact Emily was clueless. "Nevermind."

"You're paying for my next visit to the hair salon."

"How's your voice?"

Emily's brows furrowed; the question was unexpected.

"I mean, how's your singing?" Quinn clarified, hurrying a response from the brunette; her enthusiasm showing more and more.

"Average, I think? …Why?"

* * *

 _"~Well sometimes I go out by myself, and I look across the water~"_

The music blasted at them as soon they opened the door. Emily almost expected their hair to also be blown away cartoonishly. Before they could even properly look into the house, a familiar blonde greeted them.

"Emily!" she almost runs into her as she hugs her, making an audible thud sound as they crashed. "It's Lizette right?" another thud.

 _"~in my head I paint a picture~"_

"Yeah, but Lisa will do."

Though smaller than the sorority and fraternity houses next to it, the cheerleaders' alumni-funded exclusive residence was pretty sweet. The living room alone was grand; big old fireplace, traditional moulding lining the ceiling and the floor, a large contemporary chandelier lit the room, albeit dimly, a flatscreen television set – straight out of MTV cribs. Thank god for deep-pocketed alumni.

 _"~And I've missed your ginger hair?~"_

"Make yourselves comfortable," Quinn said. "I'll go get you two drinks, then you're up next."

"Bu-"

"No excuses," she shouts over shoulder as she leaves. Emily tried, but she was already too far to argue with. The two noticed that there was something different about the blonde's demeanour; the slight slouch, the slight drag in her words, the giggly aura that surrounded her, but they were at a college party after all.

She turns to her friend who she's dragged along for this ride of a night. Her chest rose; open-mouthed and awed. Emily follows her line of sight, curious as to what caught her breath. Soon, she realizes, it wasn't what was Lisa seeing. Rather, it was what they were hearing.

 _"~Stop making a fool out of me. Why don't you come over, Valerie?~"_

It was powerful and explosive, yet still controlled and refined. The singer danced freely around the room as she sang, an invisible microphone in hand. She performed seamlessly to those who she passed by; like she's done it many times before, yet it still comes off as natural rather than rehearsed. As the song came to an end, she started belting the words, her voice only increasing in power.

 _"~Why don't you come over, Valerie?~"_

She ends in a riff; precise, but more than anything, amazing.

"Girls! Here," the girls feel a cup pushed into their hand, "are your drinks."

Even without much lighting to work with, Quinn read the situation quickly; wide eyes, agape mouths, and deep inhales. "She's born to perform, isn't she?"

"Who is that?" Lisa asks.

"That? That's Santana!"

 _Wow._

* * *

After getting pulled out with Lisa by Quinn to sing and dance as an impromptu college version of Spice Girls with two other girls, the swimmers were drained. Emily was sure they've exhausted all of the Spice Girls' songs. Hence, the two girls were now leaning on each other at the end of one of the couches, sipping from their red cups, watching the somehow-still-energy-filled Quinn join some guys cover NSYNC as JC.

Lisa gets up slowly, making Emily sit up. "I'm going to find the bathroom."

Whether it was because Quinn adorably dancing Bye Bye Bye was too amusing to watch or because she was simply too tired to respond properly, Emily just nods Lisa's way but stays seated. After a while, she feels the couch dip where Lisa sat.

"Your type?"

It snaps her out of her trance that she just finds out she was in. Emily turns her head to find her words missing. Who knew a sweatshirt and compression shorts could look so good. There she sat; arms crossed with a red up in hand. The swimmer opens her mouth to answer, but she didn't know what to say.

Santana just laughs to herself, uncrossing her legs. "It's okay. She's everyone's type. She's like a siren; she'll call you in, chew you up, then spit you out."

Again, she didn't have an answer; the image of a mermaid Quinn casting a thunderstorm on a medieval ship, causing sailors to abandon ship, and jump into the rough waves, and cling onto debris of the ship to stay afloat like Jack and Rose from Titanic-

A hand now on her knee snaps her out of her head, "I'm joking." Santana laughs again at Emily's state of shock from imagining the blonde as a siren. "She lost her bad side a while ago," she assures, sighing. "We used to be co-head bitches in charge. But when Quinn stepped into college, someone must have slapped her ass the wrong way, hit the reset button, and sweet little Lucy was back. All compliments, and swear jars. and-"

"Lucy?"

"Her first name, but everybody calls-" she glances at Emily, noticing her face that read "What do I do?" or "Why is she telling me this?", or both. The cheerleader guesses it's the latter. "Why am I telling you all this? A la verga. Must be the booze." Santana takes the cue to get up and leave, tapping the other girl's knee as she gets up. The swimmer tries again say something; to ask her a question, to make a conversation, or just get her to stay a little longer. "Well, Emily, now you owe me an alcohol prompted story about your life."

A sigh makes it out of Emily as she watches the cheerleader leave. All the things she could have said now flooding to her; she should have told her that she thought her singing was absolutely amazing, or asked about her type, or asked if college changed her as well, or when they could meet again so she can pay her dues. All she could do now was cringe at her lack of ability to say more than one word.

 _Shit._

* * *

 **Sorry for the long wait to those who follow this story. I had exams and competition, but mostly... this is what happens when you don't plan out a story. This fic is alive and well, just that it has been in a coma for a while due to poor planning. I've been getting an idea of what I want to happen but I'm still stuck on how to make it happen (just to let you guys know). So yeah... sorry again. Especially to the many who have prompted me to update. Thanks for reading! :)**


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